Summer is upon us, and with it, the seasonal spike in puzzle magazine sales. As people spend time outside and away from screens and prepare for their upcoming holidays, these little time-fillers boom in popularity and circulation, presenting great opportunities for retailers everywhere.
Puzzler Collection, Take a Crossword and Puzzler Q Wordsearch – the top three publications – make £7.6m in revenue through nearly 2.8 million copies sold, and according to Bauer, sales increase by more than 15% during the summer. The warmer months deliver up to 35% of the year’s total revenue in just a quarter of the time, making it an ideal time to prioritise these titles on in-store displays.
However, it is important to stock a wide variety of them, so similar titles do not cannibalise each other’s sales – one sudoku and one crossword title cater to two different demographics, but two sudoku mags just steal sales from each other. According to wholesaler data, the segment as a whole shifts nearly 19 million copies, with an estimated revenue of £44.6m, so make sure you have a wide range to take advantage of this seasonal window of opportunity.
Launch of the week
Teen Breathe Special: Inspiring Women
On sale 5 July
Frequency one shot
Price £4.99
Distributor Seymour
Display with Breathe, Teen Breathe
Marking 100 years since women were given the right to vote, Teen Breathe highlights the continual push towards equality with a special edition focusing on inspiring women.
The World is experiencing a coordinated push towards social equality, with women participating more in world affairs and companies slowly moving toward closing the gender pay gap. We have come a long way since 1918 and women fighting for the right to vote, and to commemorate, The GMC Group is launching a special edition of Teen Breathe.
Marking 100 years since women’s suffrage in the UK, this one-shot magazine looks at high-profile women and features creative exercises and inspiring editorial to encourage young girls to follow their dreams. Women’s specialist magazines are great sellers, so put this front of shelf or at the till for best results.
Take a Break’s Codebreakers Coll’n
On sale out now
Frequency four-weekly
Price £2.50
Distributor Frontline
Display with Take a Break, Puzzler Collection, Take a Puzzle
- This puzzle magazine has 100 pages of codebreaker puzzles, alongside a cover-mounted pen and a competition to win £3,000.
- The price is permanently increasing from £2.40 to £2.50, which is expected to deliver additional revenues of £62,000 nationally.
PC Gamer
On sale out now
Frequency monthly
Price £5.99
Distributor Marketforce
Display with Official PlayStation Magazine, Official Xbox Magazine
- This gaming magazine is focused on PC titles and enthusiasts, and offers reviews, news and features about both video games and equipment.
- August’s edition is a special about the yearly E3 event in California, and includes a free game worth £11.
Digital Camera
On sale out now
Frequency monthly
Price £5.49
Distributor Marketforce
Display with Amateur Photographer, Practical Photography, Outdoor Photography
- Aiming to make its readers better photographers, this specialist magazine offers features, guides and equipment reviews.
- It includes a full licence for the editing program Sketch Drawer 5.1, worth $49.99, and a chance to win a masterclass with landscape photographer Charlie Waite.
Airliner Classics
On sale out now
Frequency annual
Price £5.99
Distributor Seymour
Display with Flypast, Airliner World, Aeroplane
- This one-shot annual bookazine is made by the team behind Airliner World and looks back at the golden days of commercial aviation.
- It includes special tributes to some of the most iconic aircraft and airlines, such as the Boeing 747 and the BAC 1-11, and the early days of Australia’s Quantas Airways.
Yours
On sale 3 July
Frequency bi-weekly
Price £1.99
Distributor Frontline
Display with Hello!, Take a Break, Spirit & Destiny
- Yours is aimed at women aged over 50, and covers topics such as health, beauty, travel and fashion.
- This bumper issue features behind-the-scenes articles on quiz shows, travel insurance advice and a summer beauty, fashion and food guide.
The Lego Batman Movie
On sale out now
Frequency one shot
Price £4.99
Distributor Frontline
Display with Batman comics, Lego Star Wars, Lego Ninjago
- This special edition Lego magazine focuses on the comical movie version of Batman and includes features, comics and activities around the Caped Crusader.
- There is a sneak peak at new Lego sets and a cover-mounted Lego Minifigure of Harley Quinn.
Wargames Illustrated
On sale 30 June
Frequency monthly
Price £4.95
Distributor Intermedia
Display with White Dwarf, Miniature Wargames
- This tabletop wargame magazine is aimed at hobbyists old and new, and includes guides on how to create the perfect figurines and weaponry and how to recreate historical battles.
- This month’s issue looks at Napoleon’s generals, World War II tank combat and renaissance dioramas.
Specialist choice
Nainesh Shah, Mayhew
Newsagents, Belgravia, London
The New Yorker
On sale out now
Frequency weekly
Price £5.95
Distributor Seymour
Who buys it?
A lot of travelers and people who want to keep up-to-date with the world news in a detailed form – not just brief news like you see in the papers, but a detailed analysis of the articles.
How do you display it?
We’ve got it with news magazines, like Time and Newsweek, and we also put it on the counter and give it a full face display.
